Old town Cartagena was the Spanish banking center for South America in the period from the 1500s to the 1800s. Gold mined and stolen from the Incas was shipped from Cartagena and later Colon, Panama, back to the Spanish monarchy to pay off debts and stock Spanish war chests. Because there was so much gold held in Cartagena, the city was constantly attacked by pirates . . . and by other countries. To protect the gold, fortifications were built by the Spaniards. The Walled of City in Cartagena is probably the most famous for defense but the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas was the most effective for and today, the castle is the most iconic spot in Cartagena. A literal mountain overlooking the bay, this fortress looms over the city and virtually commands a visit.
This is not a factual history lesson but the story as we’ve heard it is very intriguing. In brief, the Castillo San Felipe had the most effective, almost sadistic, strategic military engineering displayed in any fort or castle in its time. It is the largest ever built by the Spaniards. From its earliest days in the 1670s, the Castillo’s architects thought of almost every possible mode of attack, what if this and what if that and determined a way to confound and defeat the enemy. They had defensive plans, a plan B and if that did not work, they used plan C. There was no way they could be defeated. Plus having occupied the area for years, the Spaniards were acclimated to the land and understood its climate. They knew how to work around the elements of the tropical weather, months without fresh water during dry seasons, the ever-present mosquitoes, and disease. They used those natural tools and their armaments to defeat pirates, and foreign armies to protect their city and the gold. The colonists defeated the French, the English, and the pirates but they could not defeat the home country, Spain itself.
The name La Heroica came when patriots in Cartagena demanded autonomy and independence, from Spain. A siege ensued; the rebels held off the much greater armed Spanish military for 105 days. The patriots were finally defeated but their heroism lives on in the name of La Heroica. A decade later during the War of Independence, Cartagena once again declared independence from Spain. The city won this time. Colombia became independent of Spain in 1819.
This story makes me think of the disturbing story currently on our minds today. La Heroica is a fitting name for Ukraine. I pray the Ukrainians ultimately retain their independence, their country, and their lives!!!
We had to walk a very steep incline to reach the main level of El Castillo San Felipe. We contracted a tour guide for just the two of us and I’m glad we did. It was worth every peso. We walked through the tunnels created in a way so that the Spanish at the top of the tunnel could see and hear footsteps of enemy soldiers entering the tunnel, but the downward angle of the tunnel prevented attackers from below from seeing guns aimed at them from the top entrance. Amazing! But first having arrived at a tunnel, the enemy had to scale the almost impossible tall angled wall of the fortress’s foundation to even begin to manage a toehold on the fort. The architects thought of everything. They buried cannon barrels upright and used them as pulleys to get canons and supplies up the steep hills of the castle. They even dug escape tunnels that went under surrounding waters to the town in the near distance where they could fire cannon back strategically positioned to blow up their own ammunition store so the enemy could not use it. All this was built between 1600 and 1800.
After looking at almost every crook and cranny of El Castillo, we walked maybe a half-mile in blazing sun and heat to old town or The Walled City. It’s similar in age and appearance to Casco Viejo in Panama City . . . the first city here, a very old city that thankfully people cared for and it still stands today in glorious color.
Color! That’s a perfect word to describe all of Columbia that we have seen so far. The colors are rich, natural and deep . . . purples like eggplant, blue like primary blue, yellows richer than the sun and red, oh red is the favorite color!
There is a lot to see and learn here but . . . that’s for another day or maybe even two.
🥰❤❤
Hugs to you too!